My best guesses here - duct/duck/ gaff tape; form least quality to best

1. dollar store duct
2. common silver duct tape; Target, Lowes, etc.
3. Gorilla branded tape
4. Gaff / gaffers tape (used by stage hands)
5. 100 mph tape

Your opinion?

A couple of questions.....Are there available any objective tests, like those done by Consumers Reprots, for instance, of the qualities of any of the various brands? How well does duct tape keep? The reason I am concerned is that i have a roll onmy hiking pole that is at least a decade old...I am not sure that at this point it will perform very well. Is any old duct tape better than no duct tape at all? Is "100 mph" tape even a valid category, or just a military slang term?

I'm not sure I've ever seen "real" 100 MPH tape, but I've read a few times that Gorilla tape is better. According to my Googling it's either Nashua's duct tape in green, or it's automotive body tape.

Gaffer tape is great for clean removal, but is not designed to adhere as well or be as strong as the others, so I wouldn't have it in this list at all.

Somewhere between what you describe as common silver duct tape and Gorilla tape are some higher-end duct tapes made by 3M, Nashua, and a few other manufacturers. They are noticeably better than cheaper tapes in my experience.

So my list would look more like this:

1. dollar store duct tape
2. hardware store ("regular") duct tape
3. more expensive duct tapes (Nashua, 3M, 100 MPH tape)
4. Gorilla tape

I've done some things with Gorilla tape that were just crazy, and it's what I stock for emergencies. It also survives well in temperature extremes.

Gorilla tape is probably about the best I've ever used. Duck tape is really good, and most of the silver stuff is pretty decent.

For me, gorilla tape is not that good at wound closure for example. Too thick (that also makes its storage in good amounts harder), a lot less flexible, less stretchy, and to me it seems not as adhesive to various surfaces compared to regular brands.

Yeah, it depends on what you're using it for. Gorilla tape is awesome for repairs.

Like what for example? I have tried it to cover some abrasion points on my GHB wheeled tray one day, it fell off the next day.

By the way, just noticed their new product: http://www.gorillatough.com/index.php?page=clear-tape should give it one more try.

I've used it to fix knife sheaths to keep them together and to attach cordage to them. I've used it to temporarily reattach headliner in my truck. It has worked for me to patch holes in tarps and even to fix a blown out shoe (obviously not a permanent repair!).

It's odd to hear of it not sticking. Gorilla is probably the best sticking brand I've used. Did you make sure to clean what you were sticking it to?

Sure I did, even with alcohol to melt the glue more. However, the nature of the leather abrasion, I have there, might prevent reliable sticking of Gorilla tape. Contrary, with the regular thin tape I could force it into cracks, notches, and seams there, but I need black patches, never saw regular duct tape in black.

Gorilla is great when you need (can) to wrap something - that's true.

100 mph tape, aka 90 mph tape, aka Army green tape. Works well in a myriad of circumstances. Mended clothing, made ersatz knee pads so I didn't have to mend clothing, fixed rucks, many other uses. And yes, it can be used to patch rotors on helicopters - as told to me by a very senior MW5 who had done so.

If I had my druthers, I'd use Gorilla. Hasn't failed me yet, but I don't own leather luggage.

I do own some silver duct tape. It's like the Force, it has a dark side, a light side and it holds the universe together.